Sesqui-Centennial Exhibition Association

[Record group 232-2]

Agency Function

Unavailable

Agency History

On February 14, 1921, the Committee of One Hundred (see 232-1) resolved to form a corporation under the title of "The Sesqui-Centennial Exhibition Association" and obtain a state charter for this association which was granted in May of that year. On June 3 the Association met to adopt its charter and bylaws and elected a board of directors. Together with the executive committee, selected that same day (see 232-3-1), the board of directors became the governing body with respect to the Association as a whole. The board directors met and organized under the presidency of Mayor Moore with John Wanamaker as honorary chairman, Alba Johnson as first vice-president, John H. Mason as treasurer, and Edward Robins as secretary pro tem. In succeeding months the directors appointed special committees, hired office staff, and discussed general planning strategies as well as more general topics such as public commentary on the exposition and ways of promoting public involvement. Citizens were invited to become members of the Association on payment of dues of $10.00. On June 21, 1921, there were 218 members and by late September there were 847 who had paid their dues.

The Association gathered for an annual meeting each May beginning 1922. After giving the presidential address at the first annual meeting, Mayor Moore resigned from the presidency. John Frederick Lewis served as interim president through June 30 of that year; in August, the board chose Franklin D'Olier for the post. Philadelphia mayor W. Freeland Kendrick was elected president on November 28, 1923. In February 1925 Kendrick hired Col. D. C. Collier as director-in-chief, and by the following year the association employed a large administrative staff. Kendrick remained president of the Association through the close of the exposition.